Commercial property owners could be forced to pay more than £8.6bn if they fail to revalue ahead of a major tax change, specialist tax relief firm Catax has found.

From April 2019, UK commercial property held offshore will be subject to Capital Gains when it is sold. This means that properties held in trust in jurisdictions such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man will be brought into line with those held on the UK mainland.

Mark Tighe, chief executive, Catax, said: “Although April may seem like some way away, the reality is that commercial property owners are going to be stung quite badly if they don’t act quickly.